# Space Battleship Yamato (1974 film)
**Space Battleship Yamato** (宇宙戦艦ヤマト, *Uchū Senkan Yamato*) is a 1974 Japanese animated space opera, broadcast as a 26-episode television series on the Yomiuri TV network from October 6, 1974 to March 30, 1975, and re-edited into a hit theatrical compilation film released on August 6, 1977[1](https://note.com/toei70th/n/n13e0629d7b7e) • [2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=18716). The series ran far below expectations on television and was cut from a planned 39 episodes to 26, but repeated reruns built an audience that made the 1977 film a national phenomenon and launched a franchise known abroad as *Star Blazers* and *Space Cruiser Yamato*[1](https://note.com/toei70th/n/n13e0629d7b7e) • [3](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/018213) • [4](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2010/11/26/films/film-reviews/space-battleship-yamato/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original broadcast | October 6, 1974 to March 30, 1975, Yomiuri TV; 26 episodes after a planned 39-episode run was cut over low ratings[1](https://note.com/toei70th/n/n13e0629d7b7e) • [5](https://www.wdic.org/w/MOE/%E5%AE%87%E5%AE%99%E6%88%A6%E8%89%A6%E3%83%A4%E3%83%9E%E3%83%88) |
| Theatrical film | Compilation of all 26 episodes, released August 6, 1977 by Toei; 130 minutes (129 minutes by another database)[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=18716) • [6](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/90208) |
| Premise | In 2199, radiation from Gamilas attacks has driven humanity underground; the rebuilt battleship Yamato must reach Iscandar, 148,000 light years away, for the Cosmo Cleaner radiation-removal device[7](https://eiga.com/movie/34907/) |
| Key staff | Planning, original idea, production, and executive command: Yoshinobu Nishizaki; setting design and art direction: Leiji Matsumoto; film director: Toshio Masuda; music: Hiroshi Miyagawa[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=18716) |
| Breakthrough moment | At the film's 1977 premiere, Japanese audiences queued overnight for the first time for a domestic film[8](https://fukujo.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2000199.1/files/jinbun028013.pdf) |
| Rights history | A lawsuit between Matsumoto and Nishizaki over authorship of the eight Yamato works made from 1974 to 1983 ended with the court recognizing Nishizaki as the author[9](https://chosakukenhou.jp/%E3%80%90%E8%A9%B3%E7%B4%B0%E8%A7%A3%E8%AA%AC%E3%80%91%E5%AE%87%E5%AE%99%E6%88%A6%E8%89%A6%E3%83%A4%E3%83%9E%E3%83%88%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6%E2%80%95%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A1%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB%E3%81%AE/) |
| Recent releases | 4K remaster revival in theaters from December 8, 2023; full-series streaming for the 50th anniversary from March 14, 2025[7](https://eiga.com/movie/34907/) • [10](https://tfc-chara.net/yamato50th/news/news-24.html) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The story is set in the year 2199. Planet bombs dropped by the alien Gamilas Empire have contaminated Earth's surface with radiation, humanity has fled underground, and the contamination is spreading there too, leaving one year until extinction[7](https://eiga.com/movie/34907/) • [6](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/90208). A message arrives from Iscandar, 148,000 light years from Earth, offering the Cosmo Cleaner radiation-removal device, together with blueprints for a new propulsion system, the wave motion engine[7](https://eiga.com/movie/34907/).
Humanity secretly rebuilds the World War II battleship Yamato, sunk off Bōnomisaki in Kyushu about 250 years earlier, as the space battleship Yamato, and sends it to Iscandar under Captain Juzo Okita with the young crew members Susumu Kodai, Daisuke Shima, and Yuki Mori[7](https://eiga.com/movie/34907/) • [13](https://watch.plex.tv/ja/show/space-battleship-yamato?context.unit=HE). Evading Gamilas interference, the crew learns on the way that Gamilas is Iscandar's twin planet, fights its way to the Gamilas homeworld, destroys it, and reaches Iscandar to obtain the Cosmo Cleaner[14](https://glim-re.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/3864/files/thesis_K241.pdf).
## Origin and production
The project began in 1973 inside Office Academy, the company founded by producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, who had earlier worked at [Osamu Tezuka](https://www.edgepedia.org/osamu-tezuka)'s Mushi Pro commercial arm and produced the anime *Triton of the Sea*[1](https://note.com/toei70th/n/n13e0629d7b7e) • [11](https://www.danjarianimanga.com/yamatowotsukuttaotoko/). Nishizaki commissioned proposals from the writers Keisuke Fujikawa, Eiichi Yamamoto, and Aritsune Toyota; Fujikawa's plan was titled *Space Battleship Cosmo* (宇宙戦艦コスモ, provisional) and Toyota's carried the working title *Asteroid 6*[11](https://www.danjarianimanga.com/yamatowotsukuttaotoko/). Nishizaki sold the finished proposal to Yomiuri TV, and broadcast approval came in 1974[11](https://www.danjarianimanga.com/yamatowotsukuttaotoko/).
**Leiji Matsumoto's entry.** When Nishizaki objected to the proposed background art for space, staff member Orihiro Nozaki showed him illustrations by the manga artist [Leiji Matsumoto](https://www.edgepedia.org/leiji-matsumoto) (松本零士), whose deep-space imagery Nishizaki liked immediately; Nishizaki and the staff then visited Matsumoto's home with the proposal[11](https://www.danjarianimanga.com/yamatowotsukuttaotoko/). Accounts differ on exactly when [Matsumoto](https://www.edgepedia.org/matsumoto) joined, but sources agree it was after the story's skeleton had taken shape[12](https://shueisha.online/articles/-/174505?disp=paging&page=1). Matsumoto is credited with the setting design and art of the 1977 film, and the planning and original idea remained Nishizaki's[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=18716).
## From failed broadcast to 1977 phenomenon
The television run was a ratings disappointment, and the episode order was cut from 39 to 26[1](https://note.com/toei70th/n/n13e0629d7b7e). Popularity grew through reruns, and the theatrical compilation film, re-edited from all 26 episodes by director Toshio Masuda with scripts by Keisuke Fujikawa and Eiichi Yamamoto, turned the series into a boom[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=18716) • [3](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/018213). On the film's opening day, August 6, 1977, audiences queued from the previous night, the first such occurrence for a Japanese film[8](https://fukujo.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2000199.1/files/jinbun028013.pdf). Contemporary press reported abnormal popularity, with the film, records, and a rerun after a year and a half all surging at once[15](https://kansai-u.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2001180/files/KU-0010-20230331-08.pdf).
The film was re-edited to 146 minutes for a 1978 television broadcast, and that version became the final cut[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=18716). The follow-up original theatrical anime, *Farewell to [Space Battleship Yamato](https://www.edgepedia.org/space-battleship-yamato): Warriors of Love* (さらば宇宙戦艦ヤマト 愛の戦士たち), directed by Toshio Masuda and Leiji Matsumoto, opened in August 1978 and earned 2.1 billion yen in distribution revenue, second among Japanese films that year behind *Proof of the Wild*[16](https://www.pahoo.org/culture/numbers/year/j1974-jp.shtm) • [1](https://note.com/toei70th/n/n13e0629d7b7e).
## Place in Japanese animation
The 1977 film and the 1979 broadcast of *Mobile Suit Gundam* are recognized as major turning points in Japanese animation[8](https://fukujo.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2000199.1/files/jinbun028013.pdf). The film's success changed how anime reached its audience: producer Nishizaki actively courted fans, and the boom extended to records and fan activity that press coverage of the time treated as unprecedented for an animated work[15](https://kansai-u.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2001180/files/KU-0010-20230331-08.pdf). The franchise it launched ran through television sequels in 1978 and 1980, theatrical films in 1978, 1980, and 1983, and a final film by Nishizaki in 2010, before a full remake, *Space Battleship Yamato 2199*, directed by Yutaka Izubuchi, arrived in 2012[17](https://keniti2026.github.io/yamato-info-site/works.html).
**Rights dispute.** Authorship of the Yamato works became the subject of a lawsuit between Matsumoto, the manga artist famous for *Galaxy Express 999*, and Nishizaki, the producer who had led the series' planning and production. The dispute covered the eight Yamato works produced from 1974 (Showa 49) to 1983 (Showa 58), including the first TV series and the theatrical films, and was settled with the court recognizing Nishizaki as the author[9](https://chosakukenhou.jp/%E3%80%90%E8%A9%B3%E7%B4%B0%E8%A7%A3%E8%AA%AC%E3%80%91%E5%AE%87%E5%AE%99%E6%88%A6%E8%89%A6%E3%83%A4%E3%83%9E%E3%83%88%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6%E2%80%95%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A1%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB%E3%81%AE/).
## Restoration and anniversary releases
A 4K remaster of the 1977 film, restored from the original negative and using newly found magnetic-recording master audio, received a limited theatrical revival from December 8, 2023, distributed by Bandai Namco Filmworks[7](https://eiga.com/movie/34907/) • [18](https://starblazers-yamato.net/4kremaster/index.html). The remaster set also included a newly discovered negative dated July 5, 1977, from which the previously unreleased 1977 "Starsha death version" of the film was restored[19](https://img.sunrise-inc.co.jp/images/news/21072_ytmrigeqxa2j_pdf.pdf). For the 50th anniversary of the television broadcast, the complete 1974 series and the franchise's films began streaming on Amazon Prime Video, FOD, and U-NEXT, the series from March 14, 2025 and the feature films from April 4, 2025[10](https://tfc-chara.net/yamato50th/news/news-24.html).
## References
1. [第5章「映画とテレビでトップをめざせ！」｜創立70周年特別寄稿『東映行進曲』, note](https://note.com/toei70th/n/n13e0629d7b7e)
2. [宇宙戦艦ヤマト（1977）作品情報, KINENOTE](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=18716)
3. [宇宙戦艦ヤマト 劇場版, WOWOWオンライン](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/018213)
4. ['Space Battleship Yamato' film review, The Japan Times](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2010/11/26/films/film-reviews/space-battleship-yamato/)
5. [宇宙戦艦ヤマト, 通信用語の基礎知識](https://www.wdic.org/w/MOE/%E5%AE%87%E5%AE%99%E6%88%A6%E8%89%A6%E3%83%A4%E3%83%9E%E3%83%88)
6. [宇宙戦艦ヤマト ＜劇場版＞, allcinema](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/90208)
7. [宇宙戦艦ヤマト 作品情報, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/34907/)
8. [日本アニメーションの転換点としての『宇宙戦艦ヤマト』, 福岡女子大学紀要](https://fukujo.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2000199.1/files/jinbun028013.pdf)
9. [宇宙戦艦ヤマト事件―アニメ映画の「著作者」は原作者か、プロデューサーか, 虎ノ門法律特許事務所](https://chosakukenhou.jp/%E3%80%90%E8%A9%B3%E7%B4%B0%E8%A7%A3%E8%AA%AC%E3%80%91%E5%AE%87%E5%AE%99%E6%88%A6%E8%89%A6%E3%83%A4%E3%83%9E%E3%83%88%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6%E2%80%95%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A1%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB%E3%81%AE/)
10. [「宇宙戦艦ヤマト」50周年記念 配信情報, 特設サイト](https://tfc-chara.net/yamato50th/news/news-24.html)
11. [「宇宙戦艦ヤマト」をつくった男 西崎義展の狂気, Back to the 昭和50年's アニメ・マンガ](https://www.danjarianimanga.com/yamatowotsukuttaotoko/)
12. [「マジンガーZ」がジャンプからテレビマガジンに移籍した背景, 集英社オンライン](https://shueisha.online/articles/-/174505?disp=paging&page=1)
13. [宇宙戦艦ヤマト (1974), Plex](https://watch.plex.tv/ja/show/space-battleship-yamato?context.unit=HE)
14. [『さらば宇宙戦艦ヤマト』論考, ギンナン・リポジトリ](https://glim-re.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/3864/files/thesis_K241.pdf)
15. [『異常人気「宇宙戦艦ヤマト」』朝日新聞1977年8月5日夕刊, 関西大学リポジトリ](https://kansai-u.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2001180/files/KU-0010-20230331-08.pdf)
16. [西暦1974年 - 「宇宙戦艦ヤマト」放映開始, pahoo.org](https://www.pahoo.org/culture/numbers/year/j1974-jp.shtm)
17. [作品一覧, 宇宙戦艦ヤマト 総合情報サイト](https://keniti2026.github.io/yamato-info-site/works.html)
18. [『宇宙戦艦ヤマト 劇場版』4Kリマスター公式サイト](https://starblazers-yamato.net/4kremaster/index.html)
19. [宇宙戦艦ヤマト 劇場版 4Kリマスター 商品情報, サンライズ](https://img.sunrise-inc.co.jp/images/news/21072_ytmrigeqxa2j_pdf.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Japanese anime features › Released 1932 to 1998*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license